Democrats argue that $TRUMP Trump is "selling America," protesting just hours before the president's gala dinner for his meme coin.
Democratic lawmakers demanded that President Donald Trump publish a list of people who will attend the gala dinner — just hours before the dinner, which the president is hosting for the largest holders of his meme coin.
At a press conference on Thursday, Democrats, including Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, and Representative Sam Liccardo of California, along with consumer advocacy organizations, criticized the event scheduled to take place later Thursday at Trump's private golf club.
"The American people have no idea who is buying access to the president and what they are getting in return," said Warren.
On Thursday evening, Trump will host 220 top holders of his meme coin at his private golf club near the nation's capital. Trump launched his meme coin, $
TRUMP -0.65%
, just days before his inauguration. This, along with other crypto interests of the president, including the recently launched stablecoin through the Trump-backed company World Liberty Financial, has drawn criticism from Democrats as lawmakers work on legislation to regulate stablecoins and cryptocurrencies overall.
The price to attend the gala dinner ranges from $55,000 to $37.7 million, according to NBC News. While many of the attendees are anonymous, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun stated that he plans to attend the gala dinner in a post on X.
Blumenthal accused the Trump administration of concealing who was invited to the gala dinner and said that some attendees may come from foreign powers and governments. This, he said, represents a breach of trust with the American people and poses a threat of misallocation of incentives.
"Donald Trump is selling access," said Blumenthal. "He is selling America. He is selling it to foreign powers. He is putting our national security at risk."
